XFree86
is an X server that was originally designed for UNIX and UNIX-like operating
systems running on Intel x86 hardware. It now runs on a wider range of
hardware and OS platforms.

This work is derived from X386 1.2 which was contributed
to X11R5 by Snitily Graphics Consulting Service. The current XFree86 release
is based on X11R6.3. The XFree86 X server architecture was redesigned for
the 4.0 release, and it includes among other things a loadable module system
donated by Metro Link, Inc.

XFree86 operates under a wide
range of operating systems and hardware platforms. The Intel x86 (IA32)
architecture is the most widely supported hardware platform. Other hardware
platforms include Compaq Alpha, Intel IA64, SPARC and PowerPC. The most
widely supported operating systems are the free/OpenSource UNIX-like systems
such as Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD. Commercial UNIX operating systems
such as Solaris (x86) and UnixWare are also supported. Other supported
operating systems include LynxOS, and GNU Hurd. Darwin and Mac OS X are
supported with the Xdarwin(1)
X server. Win32/Cygwin is supported with
the XWin X server.

For
operating systems that support local connections other than Unix Domain
sockets (SVR3 and SVR4), there is a compiled-in list specifying the order
in which local connections should be attempted. This list can be overridden
by the XLOCAL environment variable described below. If the display name
indicates a best-choice connection should be made (e.g. :0.0), each connection
mechanism is tried until a connection succeeds or no more mechanisms are
available. Note: for these OSs, the Unix Domain socket connection is treated
differently from the other local connection types. To use it the connection
must be made to unix:0.0.

The XLOCAL environment variable should contain
a list of one more more of the following:

NAMED
PTS
SCO
ISC

which represent SVR4 Named Streams pipe, Old-style USL Streams pipe, SCO
XSight Streams pipe, and ISC Streams pipe, respectively. You can select
a single mechanism (e.g. XLOCAL=NAMED), or an ordered list (e.g. XLOCAL="NAMED:PTS:SCO").
This variable overrides the compiled-in defaults. For SVR4 it is recommended
that NAMED be the first preference connection. The default setting is PTS:NAMED:ISC:SCO.

To globally override the compiled-in defaults, you should define (and export
if using sh or ksh) XLOCAL globally. If you use startx/xinit, the definition
should be at the top of your .xinitrc file. If you use xdm, the definitions
should be early on in the <XRoot>/lib/X11/xdm/Xsession script.

In addition
to the normal server options described in the Xserver(1)
manual page, XFree86
accepts the following command line switches:

vtXX

XX specifies the Virtual
Terminal device number which XFree86 will use. Without this option, XFree86
will pick the first available Virtual Terminal that it can locate. This
option applies only to platforms such as Linux, BSD, SVR3 and SVR4, that
have virtual terminal support.

-allowMouseOpenFail

Allow the server to start
up even if the mouse device can't be opened or initialised. This is equivalent
to the AllowMouseOpenFailXF86Config(5)
file option.

-allowNonLocalModInDev

Allow changes to keyboard and mouse settings from non-local clients. By default,
connections from non-local clients are not allowed to do this. This is equivalent
to the AllowNonLocalModInDevXF86Config(5)
file option.

-allowNonLocalXvidtune

Make the VidMode extension available to remote clients. This allows the
xvidtune client to connect from another host. This is equivalent to the
AllowNonLocalXvidtuneXF86Config(5)
file option. By default non-local connections
are not allowed.

-bgamma value

Set the blue gamma correction. value must
be between 0.1 and 10. The default is 1.0. Not all drivers support this. See
also the -gamma, -rgamma, and -ggamma options.

-bpp n

No longer supported. Use
-depth to set the color depth, and use -fbbpp if you really need to force
a non-default framebuffer (hardware) pixel format.

-configure

When this option
is specified, the X server loads all video driver modules, probes for available
hardware, and writes out an initial XF86Config(5)
file based on what was
detected. This option currently has some problems on some platforms, but
in most cases it is a good way to bootstrap the configuration process.
This option is only available when the server is run as root (i.e, with
real-uid 0).

-crt /dev/ttyXX

SCO only. This is the same as the vt option,
and is provided for compatibility with the native SCO X server.

-depth n

Sets the default color depth. Legal values are 1, 4, 8, 15, 16, and 24.
Not all drivers support all values.

-disableModInDev

Disable dynamic modification
of input device settings. This is equivalent to the DisableModInDevXF86Config(5)
file option.

-disableVidMode

Disable the the parts of the VidMode extension
(used by the xvidtune client) that can be used to change the video modes.
This is equivalent to the DisableVidModeExtensionXF86Config(5)
file option.

-fbbpp n

Sets the number of framebuffer bits per pixel. You should only
set this if you're sure it's necessary; normally the server can deduce the
correct value from -depth above. Useful if you want to run a depth 24 configuration
with a 24 bpp framebuffer rather than the (possibly default) 32 bpp framebuffer
(or vice versa). Legal values are 1, 8, 16, 24, 32. Not all drivers support
all values.

-flipPixels

Swap the default values for the black and white pixels.

-gamma value

Set the gamma correction. value must be between 0.1 and 10.
The default is 1.0. This value is applied equally to the R, G and B values.
Those values can be set independently with the -rgamma, -bgamma, and -ggamma
options. Not all drivers support this.

-ggamma value

Set the green gamma
correction. value must be between 0.1 and 10. The default is 1.0. Not all
drivers support this. See also the -gamma, -rgamma, and -bgamma options.

-ignoreABI

The X server checks the ABI revision levels of each module that it loads.
It will normally refuse to load modules with ABI revisions that are newer
than the server's. This is because such modules might use interfaces that
the server does not have. When this option is specified, mismatches like
this are downgraded from fatal errors to warnings. This option should be
used with care.

-keeptty

Prevent the server from detaching its initial controlling
terminal. This option is only useful when debugging the server. Not all
platforms support (or can use) this option.

-keyboard keyboard-name

Use the
XF86Config(5)
file InputDevice section called keyboard-name as the core
keyboard. By default the core keyboard input device referenced by the default
Layout section are used, or the first relevant InputDevice section when
there are no Layout sections.

-layout layout-name

Use the XF86Config(5)
file
Layout section called layout-name. By default the first Layout section is
used.

-logfile filename

Use the file called filenameg as the X server log
file. The default log file is /var/log/XFree86.n.log on most platforms, where
n is the display number of the X server. The default may be in a different
directory on some platforms. This option is only available when the server
is run as root (i.e, with real-uid 0).

-logverbose [n]

Sets the verbosity level
for information printed to the X server log file. If the n value isn't supplied,
each occurrance of this option increments the log file verbosity level.
When the n value is supplied, the log file verbosity level is set to that
value. The default log file verbosity level is 3.

-modulepath searchpath

Set
the module search path to searchpath. searchpath is a comma separated list
of directories to search for X server modules. This option is only available
when the server is run as root (i.e, with real-uid 0).

-nosilk

Disable Silken
Mouse support.

-pixmap24

Set the internal pixmap format for depth 24 pixmaps
to 24 bits per pixel. The default is usually 32 bits per pixel. There is
normally little reason to use this option. Some client applications don't
like this pixmap format, even though it is a perfectly legal format. This
is equvalent to the PixmapXF86Config(5)
file option.

-pixmap32

Set the internal
pixmap format for depth 24 pixmaps to 32 bits per pixel. This is usually
the default. This is equvalent to the PixmapXF86Config(5)
file option.

-pointer
pointer-name

Use the XF86Config(5)
file InputDevice section called pointer-name
as the core pointer. By default the core pointer input device referenced
by the default Layout section are used, or the first relevant InputDevice
section when there are no Layout sections.

-probeonly

Causes the server to
exit after the device probing stage. The XF86Config file is still used
when this option is given, so information that can be auto-detected should
be commented out.

-quiet

Suppress most informational messages at startup.
The verbosity level is set to zero.

-rgamma value

Set the red gamma correction.
value must be between 0.1 and 10. The default is 1.0. Not all drivers support
this. See also the -gamma, -bgamma, and -ggamma options.

-scanpci

When this
option is specified, the X server scans the PCI bus, and prints out some
information about each device that was detected. See also scanpci(1)
and
pcitweak(1)
.

-screen screen-name

Use the XF86Config(5)
file Screen section
called screen-name. By default the screens referenced by the default Layout
section are used, or the first Screen section when there are no Layout
sections.

-showconfig

This is the same as the -version option, and is included
for compatibilty reasons. It may be removed in a future release, so the
-version options hould be used instead.

-weight nnn

Set RGB weighting at 16
bpp. The default is 565. This applies only to those drivers which support
16 bpp.

-verbose [n]

Sets the verbosity level for information printed on
stderr. If the n value isn't supplied, each occurrance of this option increments
the verbosity level. When the n value is supplied, the verbosity level
is set to that value. The default verbosity level is 1.

-version

Print out
the server version, patchlevel, release date, the operating system/platform
it was built on, and whether it includes module loader support.

-xf86config
file

Read the server configuration from file. This option will work for
any file when the server is run as root (i.e, with real-uid 0), or for files
relative to a directory in the config search path for all other users.

XFree86 source is available from the FTP server <ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/>,
among others. Documentation and other information can be found from the
XFree86 web site <http://www.xfree86.org/
>.